6/3 I'm alive

Yes, I'm alive, but still very tired. Started my new job on Monday of this week. But that was after a wonderfully fun-filled week and weekend with family. Kris and Brian's wedding was beautiful and the reception was off the hook. (Never thought I'd use that phrase.)

I loved every minute of Rob and Beata's visit and they are safely back in North Carolina now. Miss you guys already.


Tonight's article is Texting: Good, bad, or neutral for your kids?

5/25 So much excitement

Rob and Beata (and Chilli) are on the road and should arrive tomorrow sometime. I can't wait.

Have been straightening up the house and have put in some more flowers in the yard. But I'll need help with more of them. The last poppy faded into oblivion--the storm knocked off the petals, so that made me sad. Wanted R and B to see those huge orange blooms. And of course Gussie had to pee on the rug. He's not had an accident in weeks. Guess this is to greet Chilli and let him know whose house it is.

Article tonight is Update: Arrest warrant lifted on cancer patient's mother

5/20 Just everything

The poppies are blooming and will soon be gone. Some of the columbine are blooming with many more to come. The peonies are glorious and cheer me when I come home from work. Thanks so much Kris and Jan for making my beautiful little oasis.

My contributions are helping too. The only bad news is that the pole holding the birdhouse and flowers fell over during a bad storm. Jan thought she had it so far in the ground that it wouldn't dare fall over. Too bad. You tried, Sis.

I'll have Rob re-pot it. :) Plus he gets to put together my patio table and chairs.

He and Beata should be here Tuesday sometime. I'm taking off Wednesday and Friday, plus Thursday morning. I'm so excited.

Article tonight is--Update: Is it okay to let your child die?

5/17 A beautiful day

What a gorgeous day, huh? Gussie and I walked for a mile or so. Then we went to Panera where Gussie held court again. My oh my he is so popular, and he behaves perfectly there. Quite unlike at home. I mean he's good at home but when a person comes in he jumps all over them. Not at Panera. He is a perfect gentleman. I love it and I'm happy he's so popular.

Tonight's article is Is it okay to let your child die?

Just a little over a week and Rob and Beatka will be here. I can't wait.

5/10 Happy Mothers' Day

I've had a great day. Bought some outside furniture. (Thanks, Pete, for unloading it for me.) Gus and I sat outside while I started reading Twilight. I LOVE IT!

Rob and Beata called me today and so did Jill, so my Mothers' Day was perfect. Plus I got a package from B and R with a lovely turquoise necklace and earrings. Additionally, a shout out on Facebook, an email, and a text. How connected is that? I'm so grateful. Love you all so much.

Last night was tons of fun at Kris's bachelorette party. It started at 4 and I was done by 8. This is a real down side of being old. But it sure was fun while it lasted. :)

Tonight's article is Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi: Moms trust them most and so do I

4/15 REFUND

Yep, I'd made an error when I thought I had to pay federal taxes and I get a refund from the feds, Illinois, and Mississippi. I might be able to survive for a while longer. YAY.

Jill if you want to fly in for the wedding, I can swing it. Rob and Beata, I'm paying for your gas. Consider it an early/late Christmas present. I miss you all so much.

Tonight's article is: Tax day: Do you have any more hair to pull out?

Cindy, I assume you took Gussie for a walk. Thanks a million. My day was unbelievable. My staff are now on their 9th crisis call of the day. And I'm the supervisor on call. It's been incredibly busy. Tonight's class was nice though. I have some really neat people in it.

3/1/09 Happy birthday, Beata!

I hope the weather stays nice for your trip to Wilmington. And I hope Rob stays nice too. :)

Can't wait to see you for the wedding. It will be wonderful to have you two and Chilli here. :) Gus will be so happy too.


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This morning's article is TV host with disability causes complaints in the UK

11/30 Welcome home

Gus just peed on my bed. Yep. This is a dog who would never pee in the bed he sleeps in. It's almost like he didn't even know it happened. Normally when he has to go outside he growls at me (like it's my fault or something). But not tonight. So consequently my sheets and blankets are in the washer. I've put on clean sheets and luckily Bea and Rob gave me a new blanket. So I'll still be able to sleep.

Lucky also that he peed on top of the covers so it didn't go down to my new mattress.

Think he's paying me back for being gone so long? :)

Speaking of that, I thought the kitty would be mad that she'd been left alone in the house for five days. But she was so happy to see me. She's more affectionate than ever. That makes me smile.

I missed both my animals so much. And I'm happy to be home. Even though Gussie wet the bed.

Oh--Elizabeth gave him a bath, so when I picked him up he looked adorable. But one foray out into the wet backyard turned him back into the dirty bird he always is. Wish he'd stop eating mud. Sigh.

Anyway, I had a perfect time with Rob and Beatka, but I'm so happy to be home. Joe and Cindy, thanks a million for getting the mail and newspapers and for taking care of my sweet kitty.

By the way, I posted a new article today on examiner.com.

11/27 Happy Thanksgiving

What a wonderful day! There's so much to be thankful for, not the least of which is being with my son and daughter-in-law. The food is delicious. The company even better. Plus they gave me my Christmas present early--and we're playing with it.

I've wanted a Wii since they first came out, and we found the last one in this section of North Carolina. What fun! And such generous souls. I'm a lucky bug.

Some of their Danish friends came for dinner and we had a great time. They have a Wii at home, so they were able to show us some of the finer points of the games.

Tomorrow night other friends are coming over to play poker. Can't wait. I can use a little extra money. :)

11/24 Soon

I'm so excited. Will now leave at 3 AM on Wednesday (okay, am not excited about that part). But I can't wait to go to Rob and Beata's home. It's such a lovely place and I'll really be able to relax. Can't wait.

But I'll miss my Gussie and Bozie so very much. Wish I could drag both of them with me.

11/19 Wednesday again

One week from today I'll be in North Carolina with Rob and Beata. For some reason I thought they were coming to Quincy for Christmas so I didn't do Christmas shopping for them. But Rob said they hadn't planned to come, so now I have to frantically search this weekend for just the right gifts. Hard enough to do anyway, but in a time crunch it's even harder.

I can't wait to see them. It'll be so nice to have another mini-vacation. Sure wish I could take Gus with me though. I'll miss him terribly.

Took the day off work because of a medical procedure so it was a wonderfully lazy day--just me with Gus and Bozie. I loved it, and the rest felt great (emotionally, not just physically). Tonight I'm teaching a class at QU but it won't be full-length.

11/13 Fun evening

We had our company annual dinner tonight and it was nice. Held at Tony's Old Place, the food was spectacular, as was the company. I sat with people from my area and they are so nice. Finally met three husbands of my colleagues and they are not only sweet, but handsome as well. One guy (Bogdan) is from Poland so I called Beata and then gave the phone to him. They chatted for several minutes in Polish. Beata loved the surprise. :)

She and Rob are leaving early tomorrow morning for California to visit Jill and John (Rob and Jill's dad). I'm very happy they are going so everyone in John's family can meet Beata and vice versa. And tomorrow is Robbie's birthday, so that will make the trip even more special.

More later.

9/20 Not much new

Still sick. But I'm getting better I'm sure--I now have antibiotics and a fierce cough medicine (thanks, Jane and Jan). Slept most of yesterday and a lot of today, so that's got to be doing something good for me. Took Gus for our usual Saturday morning Starbucks excursion, and instead of going in to work, came home and slept again.

My nephew Cody took Gussie for a walk this afternoon. That's about all the exercise the dog's gotten for a few days--he and the cat have been sleeping with me all day. They sure are sweet.

In about an hour or so the entire family will meet for my sister-in-law Paulette's 60th birthday party. I know they'll have a wonderful time, even if the life of the party can't attend. :) Sure wish I could go, but Typhoid Mary needs to stay home.

I should start feeling normal by tomorrow (whatever normal is).

Oh, found out last night that my daughter-in-law Beata has pneumonia. I feel so bad for her, but glad it's getting taken care of now. They're coming to visit in two weeks so she should be all better by then. I can't wait to have a full house--with Rob, Beata, Jill, Kayla, and Hunter. It's going to be great.

8/17 My beautiful Polmark d-i-l

I call my daughter-in-law, Beata, a Polmark because she grew up in Poland and lived in Denmark as a young adult. But right now, she's really worried about her homeland. Read this:

Russia: Poland risks attack because of US missiles - Yahoo! News

5/15 Horrible and fantastic news

The horrible is that the deal fell through on my house. Depressing.

The fantastic is that Jill and kids are visiting in October, and I'm thrilled beyond words. We're hoping that Rob and Beata can come at the same time.

5/11 I'm home

The drive was the hardest ever. The wind blew so hard for most of the drive that I thought about stopping somewhere and resting. My hands gripped the wheel so tight nearly the whole trip. But the nice thing was that both my wonderful kids called me while I was driving. (Thank heaven for hands free phone ability.)

And when I got home, a surprise awaited me. On the front porch was a lovely arrangement of flowers--roses, carnations, tulips, and bachelor buttons--from Rob and Beata. Such a sweet gift, and it made me feel so special.

I'll take it to work tomorrow since I work 12 hours. Besides if I leave it here Quincy will probably eat the flowers. :)

1/25 Let's talk about something silly

Since it's my lunchtime I'll accept my friend Monk's challenge to blog this meme:

How long have you been blogging?

Since December of 2004 and there have been very few days that I've missed.

What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?

No real blogging mentors, although I do admire people who stick to it. It's not easy.

What inspired me to start blogging was that I'd always written travelogues for my family and friends. When I went to New Zealand, Australia, and Okinawa I'd email everyone about the fun I was having. By the time I moved to the UK for five months, blogging had been developed and this was a much easier way to communicate to my family/friends.

After I returned to the states my blog became a lot more boring, hence the title of this blog.


Are you trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?

For fun.


What 3 things do you love about being online?

Basically I've met so many great people. In 1995 I joined an online writers' community and have met many of those folks face to face. They've become dear friends and it's all because of being online.

What 3 things do you struggle with online?

The hardest thing is to remember that this is a public forum. And also that people can (and do) misinterpret what one says. When anyone has criticized me about being boring or self-centered, I just say, "Stop reading it." It's my blog and I'll write about what I want.

I kept diaries for many years. In some ways, this has replaced it. In others, no--I can't write my innermost thoughts. But my blog has helped me keep so many memories alive for myself. That's a really good thing.

I tag my niece Kelly, my daughter-in-law Beata, my son Rob, and my brother Joe. Will they respond? Maybe Kelly will.

12/26 Home again

Flew into New Orleans and drove back to Biloxi. Woke up at 2:30 AM (central time) so I've already put in a full day. Am catching up on some email at the office, and will pick up the puppies at 4. Looking forward to that. I've really missed them.

Yesterday was a great Christmas. Beata, Rob, and I all took part in the cooking (with Bea doing the most). Tom, Catherine, and Beata's friend Tina came for Christmas dinner. It was delicious and I'm still full.

After they left, I packed up, then Rob and I played some more cards. I had trouble sleeping, and when I woke up I heard Dr. Tran crying for me. I'm really going to miss that kitten.

I'm also going to miss the rest of the zoo--Bobby, Bella, Chilli, and Billi. And of course--Rob and Beata. They were so sweet to me the whole time I was there--making Christmas extraordinary.

(Oh, I talked to Jill and the kids yesterday too. Can't wait until my trip to Los Angeles so I can hug those sweeties.)

12/24 Achoo

My eyes are watering and my nose is running. Nope I'm not sick. It's just that a certain cat slept on my face for a while. It happened this way...

At 6 AM I got up to goo to the bathroom and Dr. Tran kept putting her paws under the bathroom door and crying. I let her come back to my room with me. She climbed on my bed and sat on my face. Just as happy as she could be. I moved her, but she ended up sleeping on my cheek. And she purred so loudly that I couldn't go back to sleep. So here it is Christmas Eve and I couldn't even sleep in. Fine with me though, because I love that little kitten.

Yesterday was another good day. We left at 12:30 to go to Linda's house for Sunday dinner. Tom, Catherine, and Judy were there--everyone from when I lived here. And Linda's son and daughter-in-law, Jason and Christy, were visiting. The food was tasty and the company was fun. I really enjoyed meeting Jason and Christy. They have two dogs--a yellow lab and a Newfoundland. They foster dogs for two rescue organizations, and the Newfie was a rescue that no one wanted. They said he's just a perfect dog though.

Their lab Rocky does what's called "dock jumping." It's a contest where the dog jumps off a dock after a toy, and the distance covered is measured. I'd never heard of it but Rob said I can catch it on ESPN 2. I know that Quincy would love it, the way she feels about water. Cookie is so dainty when it comes to getting wet or dirty, that she wouldn't go for it at all.

After the get-together, Rob, Beata and I went to the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville. It was quite interesting and covered the beginning of Special Ops (the OSS during World War II) up trhough current times. We also saw a few movies, one was made like a ride where the chairs go up in the air, vibrate, and it's like you are actually experiencing what's on the screen. It was a good afternoon.

We got home around 7:30 or so--after Rob and I went grocery shopping. We have all the food we need for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so Rob and I don't have to leave the house today. Yay.

Poor Beata has to work. I'll be napping, trying to make up for the early rising caused by the nefarious Dr. Tran.


Catherine and I at Linda's house


Me, Beata, Tom, Judy, and Linda


Rob and Judy


Beata and I at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum

12/23 Another wonderful day

We had fun yesterday and hardly left the house. Rob and I played games most of the day, including online poker. And we played lots of cards, especially Spite and Malice.

Beata had to work from 11-7, so we went to Maurice's so I could buy a pair of jeans. Beatka is a great salesperson. I left with five items--jeans, shirt, camisole, necklace, and earrings. And no buyer's remorse.

I made dinner. At Rob's request I made sloppy joes. Yeah, a real gourmet meal. Made some vegetarian sloppy joes too. We stayed up until after midnight playing poker.

And I didn't wake up until 9:30 this morning. Can't believe I slept 9 hours.